Long time no see. It’s been more than one and a half month since I posted. As I’ve been out on the road in Europe most of the time, without Internet connection, I haven’t even listened to music for quite some time. In the end I got such an abstinence that I just had to find a place with w-fi, put my headphones on, put on a playlist with new music and just dwell in this for a couple of hours. Probably my best listening experience this year. I guess I had to rest my ears for a while, find some new motivation and lust to take on a new music season.
So, let’s start today.

Dödens Dal och Peter Morén – “Måste det vara så”

I have told you before about the duo Dödens Dal’s project about inviting singers to put lyrics on and perform songs from the duo’s last album. First up was Jenny Wilson with “Under lager av is” and now it’s Peter Morén’s (Peter, Björn & John) turn. The song is called “Måste det vara så?”, the original title is “Över fältet, mot ljusen”, and it’s another hit in this interesting project.

It’s unusual to meet songs in this way, first as an instrumental, and then as someone else’s interpretation lyricswise. I can compare it with reading a book, creating your own images, and then looking at the book-based movie, where you have to struggle with mixing your own interpretation with the director’s. An added song track can of course change a song to something completely different, but what happens here is that both Jenny and Peter add another layer to the ambience that’s already there, but at the same time add images and places that wasn’t there when I listened originally. Next month they will release an EP with more artists and songs, which will be exciting to explore.

Grapell – “Shaping My Love”

Here’s a fresh single release from the duo Grapell. “Shaping My Love” is wonderful, warm  soul pop with a touch of the eighties. The song is taken from the EP “Friends”, to be released on the eighth of October.

Alexandria – “Laid Back Forever EP”

Alexandria is a band from Stockholm I wrote about last year, when they sent me the rehearsal room-recorded “Whatever”. Now they are signed to a label and have recently released their debut EP “Laid Back Forever EP”, about a week ago. The earlier song “Whatever” is there in the company of three other songs, in a sound that feels like indie pop inspired by the seventies, a bit in the direction of psychadelia, with distanced vocals and dreamy harmonies. There is a common denominator in the sound and the harmonies between the songs, but they vary the rhythm in an interesting way; from the nice soul-tasting groove in the title track to a more straight rock beat in “Secret Beach”, with it’s hooky guitar figure. A fun and great debut to listen to. Here’s “Another Station” from the record together with the video to “Secret Beach”.

Luha – “Heart”

Luha is the name of a Swedish-Filippino artist, who recently released her second single, “Heart”. It’s a light and pleasant pop-track with a percussion-heavy chorus that makes me think of Iida. Sung with a bright and delicate voice the reminds me of Frida Sundemo.

Noras Falcon – “Sing It Out Loud” – video

Last year Noras Falcon, or Elin Rosenberg which is her real name, released the debut EP “The Spark”. One of the songs from the EP, the duet with Staphan O’Bell “Kiss the Night”, made it to my “Best of 2013”-list, but it could just as well have been this song, “Sing It Out Loud”. Her new video to the song gave me the opportunity to play it again:

The Jamhouse Riot – “Hey You”

New strong single from The Jamhouse Riot, “Hey You”:

Principe Valiente – “Choirs of Blessed Youth” – album

Principe Valiente’s second album “Choirs of Blessed Youth” with beautiful post punk:

No Coda – “The Entire Cast” – album

After a bunch of great singles No Coda finally released their debut album, “The Entire Cast”. Here are a couple of songs from the album:

LaDiDa – “LaDiDa” – album

Attitude, humour, punk, energy and pop from Göteborg. LaDiDa released their debut album earlier this Spring. Here’s a taste of it:

Röjsåg – “Bring It On” – EP

Röjsåg with their rock’n’roll-punk-hardcore in Swedish. Here’s a song from their EP “Bring It On”:

Crooked Letter – “Crooked Letter” – EP

Emo rock from Crooked Letter:

Wayflower – “Stay a Little Longer “

Björn in the band Wayflower had just stopped using Swedish snuff (a kind of tobacco used in Sweden) and was att home feeling bored. He took his restlessness and abstinence and turned it into a video:

Tidens Ande – “Malmö/Min Stad”

Tidens Ande is underway with the new album “Ett slags under” and has released these nice tracks to tempt us:

The Propagandas – “The Propagandas” – EP

Here’s a taste of The Propagandas debut-EP:

Stars In Coma – “The Confessional Sun” – album

In March I hinted about Stars In Coma’s new album “The Confessional Sun”, which was subsequently released on the 30th of April. The basis of the album is front man Andre Brorsson’s mourning process after his father’s death in 2012. He throws himself into the music from the seventies and the eighties, into the music his father played for him. He takes on progg, pop, soul from his very own angels and lands with a fascinating album. Here are two of my favourites:

Nuoli – “My Curse Is My Mind”

Here’s Nuoli’s debut single from earlier this Spring, “My Curse Is My Mind”:

Jack Moy & Glöden – “Charlies Bird”

Jack Moy & Glöden’s latest single “Charlies Bird” visualised in a 48h sightseeing in Budapest:

Beatrice Eli  – “Girls”

Great single and video from Beatrice Eli:

Jonay – “On the Beach”

Jonay has managed with the achievment of joining Vine clips from more than 200 contributors into a text-illustrative music video. He claims it’s the world’s first Vine music video. Cool song too.

Miryam Solomon – “Evergreen” – EP

Miryam Solomon left Malmö for London and released her debut EP “Evergreen” this Spring. It’s  jazz and world music with soul, folk and pop vibes. Wonderful music, wonderful voice. Here are two songs:

Waitress – “Young In Mind”

Here are the first two singles from the Danish-Swedish trio Waitress. Indie pop with vibes of Phoenix and MGMT.

moodblanc – “Something”

The Duon moodblanc, hailing from Göteborg andTrollhättan, with their latest, eighties-soul-sounding single “Something”. The song is also chapter 5 in a love story that takes place on the French Riviera. You can read and listen to the story from the beginning on their site.

The Good Morning Spider – “Outergalactic” – album

I showed you some of The Good Morning Spider, hailing from Malmö, in February. In the end of March the excellent debut album”Outergalactic” was released, an album full of psychadelia influences and laidback, creative rock. Here are two songs:

Chirping – “Lux” – EP

Indierock from Chirping on the EP “Lux”. The song “The Abyss“, which I presented in the Autumn, is joined by three new songs. Here’s “Canary Wharf”:

Sentimental Pet – “Evil Mind”

Alternative rock from Sentimental Pet:

Hunt “Reset My Bones” (featuring Andrea Gibson)

The band Hunt, hailing from Göteborg, with the postrock-vibing song “Reset My Bones”. The song is based on a poem by Andrea Gibson, a poem she recites in the song. Video by Mats Udd.

Today I’m starting a series of posts with music from 2014 I haven’t had the time to publish yet. Well, new releases and even some older from last year will join the ride too. The stream of new music to my inbox has increased dramatically since a year back and it feels like I’m only scratching the surface. Rather than letting them go I feel I want to present as much as I can of this music, music I love just as much as everything else I’ve showed you earlier. So, less text and more music for a while now, which is hardly a problem I believe. I’m starting today with electro pop and music in the vicinity of this genre.

For BDK – “For Body Drugs & Kicks”

The duo For BDK  with a dark, melodic and grand electro pop. They released the debut album “For Body Drugs & Kicks” May 30th. Here are two earlier tracks:

Sameblod – “Suddenly”

Here’s a new single from Sameblod, “Suddenly”:

Me The Tiger – “As We Really Are”

The trio Me The Tiger’s latest single “As We Really Are” is one of the songs that has affected me most this year. I can see in the singer Gabriella Åström’s eyes what the song is about; in the resignation, in the discomfort as she walks across empty school yards, in the sadness. When the chorus starts, marked with distorted tom punches like echoes from a broken soul, it’s like being punched by frustration and anger, punches that make their way to my heart and turn into sympathy. The strongest I’ve heard so far from Me The Tiger. The band write about the song:

The band’s songwriter Tobias has been working several years with young people who have dropped out of school and that have lived with various forms of mental illness during large parts of their lives. ”As We Really Are” is their story about being outside the normal society, about being tossed between authorities without any results and about being seen meerely as a number in the statistics with little hope for the future.

Albakin – “Open Casket”

“Open Casket” is the name of the band Albakin’s beautiful debut single, a “tale about lost teenage dreams and a longing for getting out in the world”.

Iberia – “Iberia” – album

The producer duo Iberia, Alexander Palmestål and Maja Milner (singer and songwriter in Makthaverskan), released their debut album earlier this Spring. Here are two songs from the album:

Callenberg – “Obie, I Hope You’re Right”

Playful, laidback synth pop from Callenberg in the single “Obie, I Hope You’re Right”:

Till Death – “Wasted Roses”

Instrumental rock electronica from Till Death:

Urban Ninjas – “At Night I Dream”

Soul vibes from the eighties in “At Night I Dream” from Urban Ninjas:

Dödens Dal med Jenny Wilson – “Under lager av is”

Dödens Dal have invited their favourite singers to add vocals to Dödens Dal’s songs from the latest album “Korsa Jord, Luft, Is”, which will end up in a new album to be released in the Autumn. First up is Jenny Wilson in the song “Under lager av is”:

Social Ambitions – “Judgement Day”

More great synth pop from Social Ambitions in the latest single “Judgement Day”

Awesound – “Let the Rain Fall”

Peter Wickström isn’t just good at interviewing artists or at being a great singing coach, he’s also an artist and a songwriter to be reckoned with, which he shows in the latest single “Let the Rain Fall”: